We can’t turn on the news today without hearing questions about the economy. We hear words like socialism, capitalism, deficit spending, and devaluation of the dollar. What does it all mean? Does God address these modern economic issues at all? Does He offer any instruction on how to establish a business, instill a strong work ethic into our children, or how to discern when to be generous? Did He give us any principles about how to help the less fortunate without enabling someone’s laziness or addictive behavior? We might be surprised to see how much wisdom and direction the Bible gives to answer these specific questions as well as others. During specific crucial events in history, many have sought His wisdom for recovering from an economic earthquake.

During the early days of our nation’s history, a group of pilgrims came to America. They were not wearing belt buckles on their hats; however, they did come with the dream of finding liberty, prosperity, and building a new way of life. Governor Bradford’s group landed in the New World with a charter requiring them to practice communal living, or socialism, in the new settlement. It sounded like a great concept. Everyone would work for the common good by farming the land together and sharing their produce equally. As a religious and moral people this seemed godly, sensible, and relatively easy to implement -until they tried it. Those first months were devastating. Many were seemingly too busy to go work the fields. Others felt a bit “under the weather,” expecting others to pull their weight. Over half of these pilgrims died from starvation that first year. Everyone assumed someone else would do the work.

Bradford rallied the troops with a stirring reminder that if the work ethic didn’t improve more people would die. One year later, many chose leisure and laziness over hard work, and hundreds more perished.

Bradford was desperate for answers. He decided to search the Scriptures and see what God might say about this problem. He discovered three principles that saved the village and possibly America: property rights, incentive, and freedom. He found the blueprint in the Holy Scriptures. When God brought His people out of Egypt and taught them to live as a free people, He gave them ten building blocks for a society. God said, “Do not envy or steal someone else’s house or donkey…” In other words, each person will have ownership over their own personal belonging: their own land and their own cattle. Bradford noted that the concept of property rights appeared throughout the Scripture, including 2 Thessalonians speaks of each person working for his own bread, not eating someone else’s bread. He was surprised that the Scriptures spoke of incentive: “If you do not work, you shall not eat,” “Give her the fruit of her labor,” and “Do not muzzle an ox while it is threshing.”

Bradford called a town meeting and threw out the socialism model. After all, if a community of devout religious people couldn’t make it work, what hope is there for “normal” folks? He implemented the basics of capitalism by having families work their own property to provide for themselves. No longer expecting others to work for you. He tried to apply these three principles from God to his society. After a season implementing the new model, something amazing happened. Families and family members who were “too tired” or “too sick” to work suddenly came alive. Husbands and wives, children and cousins worked together on their own farms. Each person and family had incentive to work hard and provide for themselves and those they cared about most.

The result was a bumper crop. There was so much bounty… So much provision… They had plenty for themselves and others. So they celebrated the first thanksgiving to thank God for His provision and His wisdom which made a town’s economy work. Later, Bradford later wrote in his journal about this experiment and warned future generations that socialism doesn’t work. It may sound utopian, but the results leave you “feeling like a turkey” rather than eating a turkey.

The Biblical Principles of Property Rights, Incentive, and Freedom, are foundational to the success of any society. They are also the bedrock of the free market system. These concepts were outlined by God to Moses as He gave a blueprint for a free society. As these Hebrew slaves headed out to begin a new nation, God gave them the framework for freedom. It began with property rights. Property Rights are referred to in 20% of the Ten Commandments. We are warned not to “envying someone else’s house or horse.” In other words, someone else owns it, and you don’t have the right to take it or even envy it. The other commandment addresses the legal issue: “Do not steal someone else’s donkey or field.” Why shouldn’t we take something that’s not ours? Someone else has property rights to that asset.

Property rights are the foundation for freedom in any society. No longer would the king or Pharaoh own your land. No longer would the strongest and most powerful militia determine who-owns-what by the nature of survival of the “wickedest.”

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